Parts of the Past
by lux ex tenebris
Summary: Little did she know that the usually cheerful and happy Fate could be hiding such a dark and gloomy past. Little did she know that it was something that changed the woman forever. Rated T for now, will change to M as it progresses.


A/U - Nanoha is 2 years older than Fate whom she meant when they were 17/19 years old. Nanoha is working for a large-scale event management company, while Fate is still attending university. Fate's always been hiding part of her past, playing it over with a childish and cheerful demeanor.

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Prologue

_Do you know how much it hurts to see you hesitate?_

_Do you know how much it hurts to see the wall you have suddenly put between us?_

_Do you know how much it hurts; feeling all weak and unable to help you?_

_However, do you know what hurts the most? Knowing that my pain is not even a scratch compared to what you have been and still are going through._

"Okay. As promised I will tell you. Before I start though, here are some rules. Be sure to abide all of them.

First of all, you will not interrupt me. Not. a. single. time. No questions, nothing. No talking from your side at all.

Secondly, you will stay where you are now. No body contact, hugs and all that.

And last but not least, you will not look at me with pitiful eyes in the future, ever. If you break rule one or two, I will stop talking right away. And I most likely will not talk about it ever again. I'm quite sure of that. If you were to break rule number three, then I am not sure if I could stay with you. Because, you know, I can manage. I can handle all of what you'll know soon. But if you looked at me with pitiful eyes, every single day…"

A pause.

"I couldn't…"

Another pause.

"Get it?"

She looked at me with that stern and serious expression you normally would rarely see on her face. She really was not kidding here. That much was for sure. So to show her that I understood I slowly nodded in agreement.

I, on the other hand, was not sure if I really could abide those rules of hers. Since especially the fact how serious she was acting made me worry – a lot. She had never spoken about her past before. It had always been a big taboo. Whenever we somehow ended up talking about it, she would quickly change the topic; not giving me a single chance to find out anything about her youth. I met her when she was seventeen, which was after whatever happened had already happened. I never really minded not-knowing. It had never affected our relationship in any way after all. That was, however, before that one thing happened today.

I honestly would never have expected the beautiful blonde in front of me being thrown off by anything. At least not like that. She was not acting like her usual self at all. But here she was: the former school idol Fate Harlaown, student council president for two consecutive years, top notch of the whole grade – in both academics and sports – trembling, insecure, so very vulnerable.

We both were sitting in her apartment, in her bedroom and to be exact on her bed. She was sitting on one end of it, I was told to sit on the other end. That was actually the first time she had talked to me in the past couple of hours. It also took her quite a while to speak up again after telling me to sit down there. Between the time we arrived back home and the time she had told me her rules a little while ago, a good twenty minutes had passed.

Twenty minutes of her thinking, pondering, probably considering what exactly to tell me and what to leave out. Not that I had any idea of what to expect at all. Anyways, to make the line I was not supposed to pass while she was talking visible, she had put her blanket and pillow between us. So close yet so far away. It hurt me to see her practically shut me out like that. As she sat there in front of me I could not help but notice just how uncomfortable she seemed: Her legs were put up to protect herself, closely hugged and her head put on her knees. Her back was at the wall, as close as it was humanly possible. A protective stance. What exactly she was trying to protect herself from I had yet to find out.

I did consider just blowing the whole thing off. On the other hand I really wanted to know what she was going to tell me. Then again, I did not want her to get hurt because she told me. I was unsure of what exactly to do right now. But then again, I was sure that if she really did not want to tell me about it, she would not even have considered it in the first place, even with the things that had happened today.

Another thing I noticed was that her usually bright room that somehow gave off a cheerful vibe was barely lit and with Fate hiding in a corner like that it seemed unusually dark. I dare say that in a way it looked amazing. The fallen beauty in her room. Not that I would ever say that aloud though, mind you. I was being serious here, I just could not help but notice how very beautiful she was, not matter she situation.

**However, it really was hard to believe that just one little meeting would change her so much.**


End file.
